Letters: Some Disney films need more than a G rating, and that's OK

This is in response to the letter about Disney and the PG-13 rating on a recent movie ("Hollywood's violence" July 7). There is something that has to be understood.

When a period piece is done with painstaking detail, say in the Old West or in the 18th century Caribbean, part of those details involve behaviors that are not fully kid friendly. These types of films are not full of singing rodents, fantasy magic or helpless damsels-in-distress. These films have real behaviors of actual human beings, and violence has sadly carved itself as a way to shape history.

Besides, this isn't anything new that Disney has done. In the 1980s, one of their animated features that probably isn't all that well known dared to push the envelope. It was dark, there was no singing and from what I've seen the villain perished in a most unpleasant way. This was the, I think, very first animated feature to carry a PG rating. And let's not forget one of the greatest action movies of all time, which has one of the most horrific scenes that saw not just one person but a great deal of people perish in unspeakable horror. That film also carries a PG rating. Does "Raiders of the Lost Ark" ring any bells?